Located next to a graveyard outside of Ljubljana, this curvaceous chapel by Ofis Arhitekti mimics the slopes of the surrounding landscape.

Located on the banks of a lake just outside of Kyoto, this minimalist white temple is in honor of maternal ancestors. Architects Takashi Yamaguchi & Associates wanted to create a space that would envelope the visitor like the inside of a womb.

This temporary chapel, by Localarchitecture and the Bureau d'Architecture Danilo Mondada, was put on site while builders spent 18 months completing a much bigger structure.

Built on the site of a demolished 18th century church, this minimalist chapel by Lassila Hirvilammi Architects was created using 18th century building techniques.

The brief for this building was to create a space without traditional Christian symbolism.

Made almost entirely of wood, the chapel features an intricate carving of a tree, a modern take on the traditional leadlight window. Designed by Vesa Oiva.

Located in the mountains of Nagano, Japan, this elegant Buddhist temple was built with a thick concrete roof to withstand heavy snowfall. Designed by Katsuhiro Miyamoto & Associates.

From the outside, this church, designed by Undurraga Devés Arquitectos, appears like a concrete bunker. But step inside and you'll find old railway sleepers line the walls, and light floods upwards from the floor.

The pine wood interior of this one-room chapel in rural Chile emanates a warm glow, a striking contrast against the gray aluminium exterior. Designed by Baladron & Grass.

The center, which incorporates traditional geometric Islamic design into its structure, aims to offer a cultural space for the progressive Ismaili community in Europe, to promote better understanding amongst its people and others of different background and origin.

Munich's new Church of the Sacred Heart is an open, bright and lively building with a flowing modular transition from the churchyard through the vestibule into the nave -- a rejection of the restrictive symbolism of a massive enclosure.

"Create an interdenominational chapel, a space for people in search of God, a place for quiet reflection, but also one that welcomes hikers and cyclists who appreciate a rest stop with a sense of beauty." This was the brief given to 12 students from the Illinois Institute of Technology who designed this simple structure.

Effortlessly opening to the surrounding desert, the innovative 250-seat glass and steel prayer chapel sits atop four site-cast, pin-wheeling concrete walls. The double-skinned Pavilion of Light is composed of shading and insulating systems.

If you thought funeral parlors had to be gray and grim, think again. Designed by GJL Architekten Grube Jakel and Löffler, this building uses yellow quartz floors, oak furnishings, and skylights to create a light-filled space for reflection and celebration.

Commissioned to design a church in accordance with the ideas and requirements of the Diocesan Council of Temples and the Parish of Santa Monica, this building incorporates all the facilities pertaining to the church, the parish offices and the priest's accommodation in a single space, while simultaneously asserting itself as an architectural milestone.

This remarkable round church, by Reitermann Sassenroth Architekten, was built on the site of a former church which was near the Berlin Wall and blown up in 1985.

A wedding chapel is a place where rings are exchanged, and couples united. So it makes sense that this sleek structure in Osaka is adorned with interlocked steel rings. Designed by Jun Aoki & Associates.

Built on a strip of wasteland near another synagogue destroyed in pogroms 68 years ago, this modern complex includes a community center, synagogue, and museum.

Inside the dramatic building designed by Wandel Hoefer Lorch, a glass and steel roof floods the synagogue with light.

Over time, the copper surface of this chapel will eventually turn green, blending in with the surrounding lush landscape...

Step inside and you'll find the arched pine wood ribs leading to a back-lit alter. Designed by Sanaksenaho Architects.

This installation in the Northumberland countryside, was designed by Fashion Architecture Taste, and based on a Romanesque church. The fantastical building was covered in thousands of metal discs which created a rippling effect in the wind.

Situated in the heart of the city, this 39,000 square meter monolith towers above the Hollywood Freeway, one of the major traffic arteries of Los Angeles.

Situated on the site of multiple earthquakes in Perugia, Italy, the San Paolo Parish Complex was given the go-ahead in 2001 after winning a national competition. In announcing its decision, the jury hailed the project as "a sign of innovation ... and symbol of rebirth for the city after the earthquake."

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Setre Chapel, Japan

Farewell Chapel, Slovenia

White Temple, Japan

Chapel for the Deaconesses of St. Loup, Switzerland

Karsamaki Church, Finland

Chapel of Silence, Finland

Lilja Chapel of Silence, Finland

Chushinji Temple, Japan

Chapel del Retiro, Chile

Junquillos Chapel, Chile

Lisbon Ismaili Center, Portugal

Church of the Sacred Heart, Germany

Bodigheim Field Chapel, Germany

Effortlessly opening to the surrounding desert, the innovative 250-seat glass and steel prayer chapel sits atop four site-cast, pin-wheeling concrete walls. The double-skinned Pavilion of Light is composed of shading and insulating systems.

Featuring 18 dusky pink temples with golden spires reaching to the clouds, the mammoth building in the north west of the country will have enough seating for 20,000 people.

Modern marvels

Should the dream come true, it would be a remarkable feat of engineering. And as architecture continues to develop -- both technologically and stylistically -- so too do the ways we imagine our sacred structures.

A Hindu temple can now be the size of seven American football fields, if plans for Viraat Ramayan Mandir are anything to go by.

At the same time, a church no longer requires a pointed roof with a steeple. It can be a black steel cube, as slick as the skyscrapers surrounding it. Or even be transformed into a concrete bunker, partially submerged from the hot desert sun.

Could BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham, in New Delhi, lose the title for the world's largest Hindu Temple?

Swaminarayan Akshardham

"Architecture covers a wide span across the history of mankind -- from the basic housing of the mud hut to the complex system of a medieval cathedral, all the way to a modern day skyscraper," said 36-year-old Feireiss, who lectures on architecture and culture at design colleges across Europe.

"Yet even now many architects see the sacred or religious building as the architectural brief par excellence, because more than any other type of building, they demand spatial and artistic coherence."

World of wonder

From minimalist Buddhist shrines that mimic the womb, to sci-fi wedding chapels resembling glowing pods, the book's sumptuous images reveal a surprising array of sacred structures built in the last few years.

In the small town of Plasencia, in central Spain, an abandoned 15th century seminary has been converted into a home for retired priests -- with a playful twist.

Casa Sacerdotal Diocesána de Plasencia is a home for retired priests -- with a twist.

"The whole building was organized to watch over the lives of the young males being educated there," explained architect Andres Jaque. "It was all about sacrifice, control, and austerity."

"We completely transformed it into a building where life would be seen as a celebration -- from breakfast, to laundry, and gardening. And we did that by using colors that were related to social happiness."

While the bold design was initially met with some skepticism, it appears to have opened up the once-secretive grounds to the community.

Zaha Hadid's design for the Qatar 2022 World Cup stadium attracted criticism for its resemblance to a certain part of the female anatomy. She says that it was inspired by the sail of a dhow, a traditional Arab fishing boat, but we leave it to you to decide.

Creators of the Absolute World Towers 1 & 2 in Mississauga, Canada, were not shy to admit the inspiration behind their design - Marilyn Monroe's shapely curves. The buildings, which were also nicknamed after the iconic actress, were voted the best skyscraper completed in 2012.

The design for Apple's new headquarters looks more suited to the set of Star Wars than Cupertino, California. The round structure has been compared to a space ship and the tree-filled central green space is the size of a small forest. Let's hope GPS systems are included in employee benefits...

This plan won the international design competition for the new Museum of the Human Body in Montpellier, France. Inside its curvy form, the human body will be explored from an artistic, scientific and societal point of view.

The Flame Towers of Baku, Azerbaijan, twist sensually high above the capital's skyline. They are completely covered in LED screens and at night flicker like fire, visible from all points in the city.

The Batumi Aquarium in the seaside city of Batumi, Georgia, is inspired by pebbles that wash out on its beaches. The structure, which resembles a rock formation, is due for completion in 2015, and will be visible from both land and sea.

Wangjing SOHO is an office and retail complex in Beijing whose gently curving walls resemble Chinese fans embraced in an entrancing dance. The design, due to be completed in 2014, is meant to evoke the image of Koi, a traditional Chinese symbol of wealth, luck, health and happiness.

Zaha Hadid's plan for the redevelopment of a disused factory in Belgrade, Serbia, gives a lesson in regeneration with style. Indoor and outdoor spaces are seamlessly fused by meandering flow lines, seductively enticing visitors to go in.

Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center in Azerbeijan's capital Baku is all sensual folds and soft lines. Situated on the main road into the city, its balletic shape turns heads of locals and tourists alike.

The pedestrian walkway across Meixi Lake in Changsha, China, is modeled after the Möbius strip, a never-ending form whose end connects to its beginning. The sinuous footbridge will have multiple pathways, and construction is expected to start in 2014.

Regium Waterfront in Reggio Calabria, southern Italy, draws inspiration from the symmetry of a starfish. Its smooth, curving structure will house the Museum of Mediterranean History. Completion is planned for 2015.

The Blue Planet in Copenhagen, northern Europe's largest aquarium, opened to the public in March. Located on the waterfront, its gently sloping wings resemble a whirlpool that binds the sea and land together.

The Wave building in the Danish town of Vejle mirrors the soft movements on the surface of the fjord during the day, and resembles illuminated mountain peaks at night.

The library in the Chinese city of Dalian is designed to curve sensuously around a central core that will house a public space with a water feature. The building weaves into the ground creating a series of courtyards, before sweeping into the air forming a bold landmark.

The hourglass shape of Soumaya Museum in Mexico City is completely clad in aluminium, and its seductive form houses a priceless collection of European art.

A feminine form

Superstar in the building

The Mothership

Mystique of human body

Fire dance

Man-made or nature-made?

Enchanting fans

From factory to fantasy

The temptress of Caucausus

The bridge with no end

Sea creature on land

Blurring the edges of water and earth

Metamorphoses of architecture

The marriage of contrasts

Art on the inside, art on the outside

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Curves ahead - why we prefer rounded shapes

Architect Richard Rogers brought beautiful changing colors to Madrid-Barajas Airport in Spain. The main terminal's departures area is shown here.

Light comes through large skylights into the circulation systems at Madrid-Barajas Airport's check-in and departures area.

Foster + Partners won the competition to design the Beijing airport's international terminal, completed in time for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Sir Norman Foster "is more successful than anyone else at designing airports in a new way that works," says Paul Goldberger.

Architect Renzo Piano won an architecture competition in 1988 to design an airport on a man-made Japanese island near Osaka that didn't yet exist. (It does now.)

Passengers wait in the terminal building at Kansai International Airport, completed in 1994.

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill married the nomadic tradition of desert tents with enormous modern architecture at King Abdulaziz International Airport's Hajj Terminal in Jeddah.

The roof design of King Abdulaziz airport's Hajj Terminal is reminiscent of the traditional desert tents once used to shelter pilgrims as they made their holy journeys across the desert.

Goldebrger likes Fentress Architects' use of wooden trusses, glass and natural light in their design of the Raleigh-Durham airport's Terminal 2.

Architect Rafael Vinoly's swooping design of the Aeropuerto de Carrasco in Montevideo, Uruguay, looks "wonderful in photographs," says Goldberger, who wants to go enjoy this design in person.

Vinoly's design of the Montevideo, Uruguary, airport "looks like something inspired by Eero Saarinen's design" of the former TWA terminal at Kennedy airport in New York, says Goldberger.

Designed by Eero Saarinen and opened in 1962, the former TWA terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport is still considered an architectural marvel. Yet it wasn't designed to handle larger aircraft or higher volumes of passengers.

The former TWA terminal remains a beautiful and inspiring building.

Paul Goldberger flies out of JFK quite a bit and doesn't like it much. But he says the Matteo Pericoli mural at the American Airlines terminal is "one of my favorite things at any airport."

Madrid-Barajas Airport

Madrid-Barajas Airport

Beijing Capital International

Beijing Capital International

Kansai International

Kansai International

King Abdulaziz International

King Abdulaziz International

Raleigh-Durham International

Raleigh-Durham International

Aeropuerto de Carrasco

Aeropuerto de Carrasco

TWA terminal at JFK International

TWA terminal at JFK International

Matteo Pericoli mural at JFK

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Beautiful airports around the world

"The challenge we face as designers isn't just about architecture, it's about religion as a whole -- what role does it play in society?" said Jaque.

Function and feeling

Indeed, not only must religious architecture evoke an otherworldly feeling -- it must also function as a community center, study area, and even business space.

So how do architects tick all the boxes?

"It's quite a challenge," says Feireiss. "Architecture's usual criteria of purpose, access, capacity, construction, and financial viability are simply not enough -- in religious buildings the question of meaning, image and symbol are also integral to the task."

"What I find particularly curious and inspiring about this topic is it's inherent contradictions," he added. "Religious buildings always have to bridge the gap of being literally a 'concrete' implementation of a highly abstract idea."

Sound of silence

Cast your eye across these striking photographs, and the most evocative buildings are often the most unassuming.

Like the simple aluminum chapel in Chile, a warm glow emanating from its pine wood interior. Or the white cube prayer and meditation room in Sudan, bare except for two small trees inside.

It's part of a growing trend in religious architecture to shy away from ostentatious iconography, and instead allow the visitor to immerse themselves in light-filled serenity.

"This concise style leaves visitors free to fill it with their own thoughts, wishes, and prayers," said Feireiss.

"The interplay of light, emptiness and stillness seems to express a sacred quality in these spaces."